The present disclosure generally relates to knee bolsters used in vehicles to protect the knees of vehicle occupants, such as during a collision or a crash.
It is well known to use a knee bolster on or adjacent a vehicle dashboard, such as on either side of the steering column extending from the dashboard. It is also known to attempt to control crush (i.e., deflection relative to impact force) of a knee bolster. Known knee bolsters include step-shaped knee bolsters or knee bolsters having walls with varying widths to control the rate of crush.
In some conventional knee bolsters, two components are employed to provide the knee bolster with a two-stage loading response. For example, a first component having a U-shape can be secured to a cross member of the vehicle and a second component, such as a pad, can be secured to an opposite side of the U-shaped component. The two-stage loading includes a first, low load, stage involving bending of the second component and a second, high load, stage involving bending of the U-shaped component. One drawback of such conventional knee bolsters is the lack of optimization for larger occupants who would be better served by receiving a higher load response sooner during an impact or collision event, rather than later (e.g., after the first step is complete).